Over 1,000 Community Members in Katsina Engage Directly with Financial Providers During EFInA’s Inclusion for All (I4All) Grassroots Engagement 

Katsina State, Nigeria – May 2026 – EFInA’s Inclusion for All (I4All) initiative has concluded two community-wide sensitisation and awareness dialogues on consumer protection in Mani and Malumfashi Local Government Areas (LGAs), Katsina State. Held on 25 and 26 April 2026 respectively, the events brought together over 1,000 participants, including community members, local government officials, traditional and religious leaders, financial service providers, and regulatory representatives, in structured dialogue on consumer rights, financial literacy, and the mechanisms available to ordinary Nigerians when financial services fail them. 

The engagements were convened as part of I4All’s monthly grassroots engagement series in Katsina State, building directly on insights from a baseline survey and prior community sessions that revealed persistent gaps in awareness of consumer rights, limited knowledge of how and where to lodge complaints, and declining trust in financial service providers among rural and low-income populations.  

Addressing participants on the importance of the initiative, Hajiya Bilkisu Suleiman Ibrahim, Special Adviser to the Katsina State Governor on Banking and Finance, emphasised that financial inclusion is a prerequisite for equitable economic growth, stating that “access to affordable and reliable financial services is important, especially for women, youth, vulnerable groups, and people living in underserved communities. Financial inclusion helps people to save money securely, access loans, invest in businesses, and improve their livelihoods.” She further noted that “financial inclusion strengthens communities and supports national development by creating opportunities for entrepreneurship, innovation, and financial independence,” and called on business owners and SMEs in Mani LGA to take advantage of the Amana Microfinance Bank’s loan and empowerment programmes. 

Speaking to the significance of the engagements for Inclusion for All’s broader advocacy mandate, Chinasa Collins-Ogbuo, Head, Inclusion for All Initiative, stated, “What we witnessed in Mani and Malumfashi was beyond awareness creation. When communities can sit across from the institutions that regulate their financial lives, ask hard questions, and get straight answers, something shifts. That shift is exactly what I4All exists to create.” 

Key topics discussed during the events included agency banking and consumer protection, fraud awareness and available redress channels, ATM transaction disputes and resolution processes, BVN protection, and the role of POS agents in expanding financial access. Participants were educated on the distinct mandates of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) in the consumer protection landscape, and encouraged to use existing escalation channels when disputes arise. 

Pre- and post-event assessments conducted in Malumfashi demonstrated measurable improvements. Before the session, 80 participants rated their understanding of consumer rights as “very clear”; by the close of the event, that figure had risen to 331. Trust in regulators improved sharply, with 349 of 354 post-session respondents reporting higher trust than before. Additionally, 302 participants said they were very confident that escalated complaints would be treated fairly, a significant shift in sentiment in communities where distrust of financial institutions has been a documented barrier to inclusion. 

The sessions also surfaced recurring community-level pain points that will feed into I4All’s ongoing regulatory and industry engagement. These include fraudulent credit empowerment schemes in which applicants’ funds are collected with no subsequent loan disbursement; cases of loan application impersonation, where credit facilities are taken out in individuals’ names without their knowledge; and unresolved transaction disputes resulting from poor responsiveness by service providers.  

Reflecting on what these findings mean for the communities I4All serves, Uchenna Enyioha, I4All Manager, noted that “what we are seeing from these engagements is that financial inclusion at the last mile is no longer only about whether people have access to accounts or transaction channels. The deeper question is whether those services are trusted, safe, understandable, and responsive when things go wrong. For many rural users, fraud, failed transactions, weak redress, and low digital capability directly affect their willingness to use formal financial services. These insights are important because they help us move community experiences into the policy and industry conversations that shape how financial services are designed, delivered, and regulated.” 

The evidence gathered from Mani and Malumfashi will be elevated through EFInA’s engagement with regulators and industry stakeholders as part of the I4All initiative’s broader mandate to ensure that consumer protection frameworks are responsive to the realities of rural and underserved populations. Further community engagements are planned across Katsina State in the coming months.